Just as we are on the verge of entering the autonomous driving future, some car manufacturers are trying to hold on to the most precious things from the present, one of which is keeping the steering wheel on their vehicles. This thought comes most especially as we go about the time when the use of autonomous driving technology will become a mandatory obligation instead of a choice.

The first in line to make such a bold statement was Lamborghini, affirming that they will be the last automotive brand in the world to offer an autonomous driving vehicle. But then, a member of Volkswagen Group must have caught wind of what Lamborghini has said about driverless technology and declared too that Porsche will be one of the last to offer vehicles with a steering wheel.

Published on Porsche media website, Lutz Meschke has stated that the company will always offer a car that you want to be able to drive on your own and that they will be among the last cars that come with a steering wheel.

Yes, it will take at least ten more years until Mercedes-Benz introduces fully-autonomous driving capabilities on its vehicles. Having “the best or nothing” for its company slogan certainly explains why Mercedes is not in a hurry for fully autonomous driving. All the same, the brand is looking forward to make it all work one day.

While at the Australian Grand Prix, Mercedes’ Jochen Haab reveals that the company’s self-driving systems are currently at the second and third level--at least in terms of technology. That means, getting onto level 5 will be a long way down the road.

The current level it has been using, (or level 3) still requires human touch. Although it depends on the situation, moving on to the next level (or level 4) will also mean that we’ll be seeing those vehicles drive themselves in almost complete autonomous mode-- even if it may sometimes require a human driver to be in control.

Seriously, autonomous vehicles are now becoming fast enough to race on the track. This comes after Roborace – hoping to claim the title as the world’s first driverless racing series – recently unfurled the first driverless and emission-free racing car at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Touted as the first driverless electric racing car in the world, “The Robocar” boasts of a futuristic design that places emphasis not only on its advanced electrified powertrain but also on the use of autonomous technology, both hardware and software. The Robocar is the brainchild of Daniel Simon, the same man behind the design of vehicles for the futuristic movies like Tron: Legacy and Oblivion. Before landing a job in Roborace as its chief design officer, Simon was a senior designer at Bugatti. His portfolio of designs includes drones, spaceships, motorcycles and Le Mans cars – making him become renowned as one of the best designers of the world.

In designing The Robocar, Simon’s goal was to create a self-driving car with all the needed race car provisions sans any compromise in its beauty. To achieve a fine balance between beauty and performance, Simon is leading a team that includes not only aerodynamics experts but also racing engineers. Simon accompanied Roborace chief executive Denis Sverdlov during the unveiling of The Robocar at Mobile World Congress. During the unveiling, Sverdlov disclosed that the Roborace is willing to share the Robocar to engineers around the world to enable them to further advance its software and its driverless electric technology.

As if seeing the future more than a decade from now, one of the top scientists in the world of robotics and automations is predicting that children born today won’t need to apply for a driving license in the next 10 to 15 years. Why did he say that?

The person who made that prediction is Henrik Christensen, and he is not your ordinary tech guy. He is already a famous Danish roboticist and is serving as Professor of Computer Science in the University of California. His credentials have prompted the University of California to tap his services in July 2016 to run UC San Diego’s Contextual Robotics Institute. Next month, he will be gathering 30 of the world’s top scientists at the University of California for a discussion of the toughest challenges in robotics and automation -- including making autonomous cars safe on the road.

Christensen was recently interviewed by The San Diego Union-Tribune about what he thinks about the near future. According to Christensen, he expects all vehicles in the next 10 to 15 years to be fully automated. This means that the children of today won’t need to drive anymore thanks to these autonomous vehicles, rendering getting a driving license moot and academic. He based his predictions on the promises and statements made by major global carmakers – like GM, Ford and Daimler -- that they would be able to introduce driverless cars into the road within the next five years.